Grandson proudly follows in footsteps of former CL police officer Jim Hanson

(Above) Tyler Christy was sworn in as a police officer in Garner in December 2016.-Submitted photo.

By Michelle Watson

Tyler Christy made a lot of people proud when he was sworn in as a new policeman for the City of Garner recently.  But the one person who would have been the most proud died just nine months short of seeing his grandson take the oath.  Jim Hanson, a former police officer for Clear Lake, died on Feb. 3, 2016.

“Growing up, Grandpa would let me ride along with him and hang out with him,” said Christy.  “I remember thinking it was pretty cool.  I admired the way Grandpa spoke to people in the community and how they looked up to him.”

Hanson began his career in Mitchellville and Bondurant, Iowa, at the age of 31.  He became a police officer in Clear Lake in 1976 and served the city until his retirement in 1998.

“I feel my father would have been beaming brightly, as were Tyler’s father and I, as we watched him getting sworn in at the Garner Police Department,” said Kim Christy, Tyler’s mother.

Christy, who is a 2011 graduate of Ventura High School, attended NIACC for one year before transferring to the University of Northern Iowa.  He graduated from UNI in 2016 with a degree in criminology.

“I had an interest in law enforcement when I started college,” said Christy  “It looked exciting and the thought of doing something different every day appealed to me.”

While Christy was in college he joined the Iowa National Guard in March 2013.  He was commissioned as an officer in 2016.  He is a member of the 133 Infantry Battalion in Dubuque, Iowa, where he dedicates one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer to the Guard.

“This summer I was in Alaska for two weeks.  Our unit was the opposing force for an active duty unit,” said Christy.

In April he will leave for four months of infantry officer school in Fort Benning, Ga.

“If I get called up, I’m willing and ready to serve,” he said.

In the meantime, he will begin his police officer journey.  His on-the-job training in Garner began on Nov. 28.  He spends time with each officer learning the different aspects of various jobs.  In

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January he left for the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in Camp Dodge, Des Moines, for four months of training.  He will begin his full-time duties as a police officer when he returns from Fort Benning.

“I hadn’t planned on applying for a police officer job until I returned from Georgia,” said Christy.  “But when this Garner opportunity opened, I decided it was something I wanted, so I applied.  Garner is a great town and it’s close to home.”

“Policemen and women are amazing people and deserve our respect, because they sacrifice so much,” said Kim Christy.  “Some people never get to meet their heroes, but for me, I raised one of my heroes and my other hero raised me.”

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